Nancy's JL Drabbles
by Nancy Brown
Summary: A series of JLbased drabbles. Added: Shellshocked
1. Twenty Twenty

A/N: It's like this. I'm not saving drabbles as separate stories. I also don't quite get what's up with the word count feature here as opposed to the one in my word processor. According to WordPerfect, they're 100 words each. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. - N.B.

* * *

Twenty Twenty

Most of their pictures of the team burned up with the old Watchtower, but Wally has a handful tucked away at home: random snapshots, a few newspaper clippings. He saved them for the cool "I work with superheroes!" factor. Now he pulls them out and thinks about the Good Old Days.

Only here on film does he notice how Diana carries herself like a queen, how Batman looks constipated, Superman not so much, J'onn's quick and careful smile. Only now, in every single picture, can he see how John always stood beside Hawkgirl.

He must have been blind.


	2. Semper Fi

Semper Fi

She never intended to be "that woman."

She has always seen herself as a good soldier, a good person. She is Promised to Hro, should keep true to him however long they are separated.

Maybe she allowed the human too near. Maybe they touched hands, caught one another, once too often. But that kiss meant nothing. Nor that night. The nights after. She is still faithful to Hro in her heart, goes to him gladly when he returns for her.

It isn't until he confronts her in her cell, demanding the truth, that she finally understands what she has done.


	3. Election Night

Election Night

"With thirty percent of precincts reporting, it looks like Proposition 22 will pass. Current tallies show the split at eighty percent for and twenty against. As you know, Proposition 22 ... "

"Turn it off."

Bruce clicked off the tv. Lois sat beside Clark on the sofa, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. John stroked Shayera's shoulders as she placed both hands on her expansive abdomen.

"It's just one stupid state," said Wally. But twelve more were voting on similar ballot measures today and were showing the same results.

"I don't understand," said Shayera. "Why do they care if we get married?"


	4. Over and Out

Over and Out (in response to crhblack's challenge)

"I've known her half my life."

"But ... "

"Don't 'But' me. You left."

"I had to."

"You chose to. Just like you chose to lie to us. To me."

"I know."

"Look. Jen's ... She's never been to outer space. She's a counselor at a highschool, the same one we went to when we were kids. Her family lives nearby. They like me. Jen's _normal_. It's been a long time since I had normal."

"I just wanted ... "

"What? Things to go back to how they were? Not gonna happen. I got past you. I moved on."

"I ... I hope you're happy."

"Liar."


	5. Going Through

Going Through

There have been ... changes.

Everyone has a personal code. Anything accessed is flagged under that member's code. Someone under suspicion can have their own code suspended leaving the rest operational.

J'onn spends all his time on the station, and members are encouraged to come to the station weekly if not daily. The few who are psy-blind — Tornado, Fate — are not permitted to undertake solo missions. Ever.

Each new member has been taken aside. "We trust _you_ implicitly. If you see anything suspicious, be sure to let us know."

Wally watches and wonders what he will do when they suspend elections.


	6. Numerology

Numerology

(Inspired a little by DAB's "Oliver Is a Sex God")

"It's funny," Ollie whispered into Dinah's hair.

"What we all could see, and they couldn't. It's like they were a puzzle with a piece gone missing, and instead of trying to fit a new piece into the hole, they redrew the whole picture. Like they were pretending there wasn't anything wrong. Wanting everyone else to pretend the same thing. They never spoke her name and we never asked.

"But little things gave them away. Seven spots on the transporter. Seven chairs at the meeting table.

"They left ... space."

Dinah stirred. "Did you say something?"

"Nothing, love. Go back to sleep."


	7. Mnemonic

Mnemonic

He remembers the honeysuckle of his mother's perfume, and how soft her breasts were when she hugged him.

He remembers the day his grandfather taught him the bow. His fingers longed to grasp the smooth stock of his dad's rifle and he sulked at the lesson.

He remembers the Juicy Fruit taste of his first kiss. Her name was Jane and the W-Boyz played on her parents' stereo.

He remembers discovering his powers, remembers meeting Mr. Lord and the team.

Now he knows these memories are false, but he closes his eyes and can still breathe his mother's scent.


	8. Not Quite Wax

Not Quite Wax

"He's never going to fly," is the first thing she says after "Is he breathing?" and "He's beautiful." John tries to reassure her but the firmness in her mouth does not soften.

For years they try anyway, holding him as each flies, spreading the too-small wings out to catch air that cannot hold his weight. The surgery occurs when he is four: a year before kindergarten, a year for relearning to walk and for memorizing the story of a dog attack to explain the scars.

Twenty years later, he perfects the Nth metal alloy. His first flight is like birth.


	9. The Glass Slipper Incident

The Glass Slipper Incident  
(I blame XFfan2000 and Amilyn for this, personally.)

"A glamour," Zatanna explains, as Shayera stares at the wingless blonde in the mirror. There's a subtle vengeance on Zatanna's face, opposing that in Bruce's invitation.

The masquerade is all she's hoped. Friends and others drift by her, unangered and unafraid, and she is herself behind another mask. This freedom is worth it, even to see him here with Mari. She pretends she isn't hurt as she avoids them.

She drinks and flirts and never gives her name and keeps her secret, until John bumps into her and brushes her back with his hand.

And then no mask will suffice.


	10. within the silver mirror

within the silver mirror  
(for the DC Flashfiction challenge)

Her first time is painful, but Bruce is tender and the second time is far more enjoyable. The third time also. The pleasure is not the same as with her sisters but she is sated and happy.

Before the fourth time, an alert sounds. Reluctantly they join the others.

She has been in fiercer battles so she has no idea why her punches land so softly, why the blows she takes send her spinning to the ground, why it hurts to rise. Kalibak brandishes a weapon and she moves to deflect the blast.

And now Diana knows her armor's weakness.


	11. Que Sera

Que Sera  
(spoilers for TOAFT2)

"Hello?"

"Hi. Is ... Virgil there?"

"Yeah. Hold on." _**pause**_ "Hello?"

"Virgil, it's Lantern."

"For real?"_** pause**_ "How'd you get my number?"

"Batman."

"Oh. Right."

"Can you talk?"

_**muffled**_ "I'll be upstairs!"_** louder**_ "Go ahead."

"Batman said ... He told me you went to the future. There was a time machine."

"Yeah. Last year."

"How far did you go?"

"Um. Forty years? Something like that." _**pause **_"Batman said not to tell him anything. He didn't want to know."

"I'm not Batman."

"There was a new Batman, a young guy."

"Black suit? Red bat on the chest?"

"Yeah."

_**long pause**_

"Tell me everything."


	12. Vivat

**Vivat**

Wally arrived at the conference room with a tray of coffees — just in time, apparently.

"Back off, Princess!"

No doubts whose shout _that_ was. He zipped into the room and bravely positioned himself between Diana and Shayera.

"Coffee!" he chimed, noting the looks of gratitude from the other guys. _Just like old times._ The two women backed off to separate corners. Chairs. Whatever.

Wally grabbed a cup and sat down beside Shayera. In his sunniest voice he asked, "What's up with you?"

"I'm okay," she shrugged, taking a cup. "A little cranky, I guess."

John sprayed coffee across the room.

* * *

(Why? Because BillA1 made me think about her scowling, that's why.) 


	13. Daily Brief

**Daily Brief  
**

Justice League General Notices 2/14/05:

General notice 53:  
The League is not a dating service. Please do not treat it as such. If your name has a color in it, _this means you_. (JLID2)

General notice 54:  
Green Arrow can from now on be referred to as simply "Arrow." (JLID56)

General notice 55:  
Black Canary would like her colleagues to address her as "Canary" or "BC." (JLID19)

General notice 56:  
Booster Gold wants to be called "Booster the Great," or just "Booster." (JLID43)

General notice 57:  
Green Lantern suggests Superman can bite him. A lot. (JLID4)

End of general notices.


	14. Day One

**Day One**

She's not sure what she feels about John. She's attracted to him certainly, but Mari also understands that she is intrigued by him. The way he moves. The forbidding glare he wears to hide his recent pain.

Romance isn't forbidden between League members, not yet, so when she invites him to get coffee with her, it's not regulations that make him decline.

Then the android almost destroys the world, and maybe that forces him to rethink his priorities but maybe he's just tired of being alone. He brings her coffee and a smile and an apology.

There are worse beginnings.


	15. Theory

**Theory**

The first simulation consists of the original seven. The second and more realistic includes all fifty-plus members. The results are similar and unsurprising.

The third simulation consists of the metas and the aliens. The fourth assumes the non-powered heroes actively work against their former friends. The final outcome remains the same.

The fifth simulation only involves the aliens. The results change depending on which side Lantern chooses, which lover he defends. There are simulations for individual members, for alliances and romances both current and proposed.

By the monitor's sickly light, Bruce runs the program again and again and again.


	16. Practice

**Practice**

Shayera has heard that the first time is the hardest, but she barely considers it when it happens. She's practiced alone; too much rides on her performance to permit imperfection.

Second, third, twentieth, these bring no pain. She learns to avoid and to coax.

The thirty-fifth time, in the darkness of the medlab, she discovers it is not as easy, not with John. For the brief time they share together after, she does her best to abstain and he doesn't push.

The last time is in the Batcave. "It wasn't personal," she says, and the lie punctures her soul.


	17. Deactivation

**Deactivation**

Shifter thinks her name was Jane.

She is losing herself piecemeal: first she could not fight, and then she could not stand, and now she cannot remember what Downpour's name used to be.

She is coming to accept there will be no more trips to the mall, no first boyfriend, no first kiss, no college, no wedding dress, no life.

It's not fair. She was a hero. She _tried_ to be a hero.

Now she is alone. In a hospital room without even her brother for company, Shifter weeps for a lost little girl who might have been named Jane.


	18. Insight

**Insight**

The six of them are discussing ... the issue.

"We can't trust her," says Diana. The others know she's right.

"I cannot read her thoughts," concedes J'onn.

_I can,_ comes a presence into their minds. How long the android has been eavesdropping on their confabulation none can speculate, but Wally figures it must be moderating their groupthink because he doesn't know what "confabulation" even means.

_See ..._

Short, sharp thoughts jumble in: sorrow and loneliness, grief, bitter acceptance. Unashamedly erotic memories. Forty-three detected suicidal thoughts as of this morning. Contemplations on betrayals past.

Unshakable loyalty.

This time the vote is unanimous.


	19. Disclosure

**Disclosure**

"How is she?"

"Resting. She'll be okay."

"You never told me."

"Hm?"

"What you told her back there just now. About your hop into the future. About your son."

"It's only a possible future."

"But it's the future you want."

"I never said that."

"You never said _anything_. If you saw a future you didn't like, you'd tell people about it, try to change it. You didn't. There's a future where you two have a child, which means there's a future where we're not together. And that's the one you want. I'm just ... temporary."

"Mari ... "

"You should have told me."


	20. Shellshocked

**Shellshocked**

"You will come with me," Fate had said, and although John had protested, he'd gone with him half an hour ago. Wally kind of doubted John was doing his own thinking right now; his expression was blank, and he barely spoke, and there was nothing any of them could do to make it better.

The clock on the computer told him Shayera had been dead for nineteen hours when the yellow ankh thingy rematerialized. John appeared, hunched over and alone.

Before anyone could say anything, John turned. "Do you think he can hear me?" he whispered, stroking the delicate, speckled shell.

A/N: Ending this particular drabble sequence here. Hope you've enjoyed! - N.B.


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